March: Day 25: Teaching 3: Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos

March: Day 25: Teaching 3:
Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos
 
(What Does the Annunciation Mean, and What Does It Teach Us?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Why is the present day called the day of the Annunciation? — Obviously, because of some good tidings for all of us. What is this tidings?

a) It is the tidings that to us poor ones on earth there has now descended the Only-begotten Son of God, the eternal Word, by Whom all things visible and invisible were created and are sustained in being. He descended to such an extent that He clothed Himself in our nature, became in all things like us except for sin, a man, and this not for some temporary period, whether small or great, but for all eternity.

b) It is the tidings that this incarnate Son of God will accomplish for our salvation everything that is necessary: He will enlighten us with the light of truth and show us the way to eternal life; He will take upon Himself our sins and blot them out by His sufferings; He will descend into the grave and by His Resurrection dispel for us the darkness of the tomb and the fear of death; He will grant us the Holy Spirit and with Him the fullness of the gifts of grace, so that, being cleansed from every impurity, we may become capable of dwelling in heaven with the angels.

Prologue in Sermons: March 25

One Must Not Approach the Holy Mysteries Without Preparation

March 25

(A Word of John of Damascus on the Communion of the Body of Christ)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

One must not approach the Communion of the Holy Mysteries without preparation, as the Holy Apostle Paul also says: “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:28–29).

In what, then, should preparation for receiving the Holy Mysteries consist?

Saint John of Damascus reasons about this as follows:

“Many receive the Body of Christ simply out of custom, and not as they ought according to the law, with a pure thought and mind, during the holy Fast and in the Paschal season. First of all, one must pass through the holy Fast in purity and cleanse one’s conscience, and only then partake; otherwise, one who is unclean will be unworthy to taste of the Table of Christ. Remember that even in the Old Testament people approached the sacrifices with fear and purified themselves beforehand. But we receive the Body and Blood of Christ with defiled hands and without fear, whereas even the angels tremble before them.

And you, Christian, know the time of Communion, yet you do not prepare yourself for Communion itself. Consider: can you approach even an earthly king with foul-smelling lips? How then shall we approach the Heavenly King with them? Do you not hear what is proclaimed in the Church? ‘Let those in the state of catechumens depart, and let those who are not in repentance not receive!’

Therefore, let only the worthy approach Holy Communion, and let the unworthy not partake, because they will receive the Holy Mysteries unto judgment for themselves, unto condemnation and torment. For this reason the priest proclaims: ‘The holy things are for the holy!’ that is, let only the holy approach. It is not said simply ‘pure,’ but ‘holy.’ ‘He who eats this Bread and drinks this Cup unworthily is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord.’”

Illness, Cure and the Therapist according to Saint John of the Ladder

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Today, there is a lot of talk about the cure of man, since we have realized that, by living an individualistic way of life, separated from community and reality, obliged to live in a tradition that has lost its communal character, where there is no communion and preservation of the person, man is sick. Naturally, when we talk of illness we do not mean its neurological and psychological aspect, but we mean illness as the loss of the true meaning of life. It is an illness that is first and foremost ontological (i.e. to do with our very being).

The Orthodox Church seeks to heal the sick personality of man and indeed this is the work of Orthodox theology. In the Patristic texts we see the truth that Orthodox theology is a therapeutic science and method: on the one hand, because theologians are those who have acquired personal knowledge of God, within the context of revelation, and thus all the powers of their soul have been already cured by the Grace of God; on the other hand because these theologians, who have found the meaning of life, the true meaning of their existence, go on to help others in their journey along this way, the way of theosis.

In attempting to study human problems we come to the realization that at their very depth these problems are theological, since man was created according to the Image and Likeness of God. This means that man was created by God to have and to maintain a relationship with God, a relationship with other people, and a relationship with the whole of creation. This relationship was successful for first-formed human beings, Adam and Eve, precisely because they possessed God's Grace. When, however, man's inner world became sick, when human beings lost their orientation towards God and consequently God's Grace, then this living and life-giving relationship ceased to exist. The result of this was that all his relationships with God, with his fellow man, with creation and with his own self were upset. All his internal and external strength was disorganized. He ceased to have God as his focus, and instead he replaced him with his own self. A self, however that was cut off from those other parameters became autonomous, resulting in him becoming sick in both essence and reality. Therefore, in all that follows health is understood as a real and true relationship, and illness, as the interruption of that relationship, when man falls away from his essential dialogue with God, his fellow men and creation, and sinks into a tragic monologue.

"The Ladder" of Saint John of Sinai as Spiritual Tablets Engraved by God

By Panagiotis Andriopoulos

Today is the Fourth Sunday of the Fast, and the Church honors Saint John of Sinai, the author of The Ladder.

I leaf through the Ladder of Saint John and try to understand — on an intellectual level, of course — the very deep concepts (as I suspect) contained in its respective chapters: On Detachment, On Exile (Living as a Stranger), On Joyful Mourning, On Insensibility, On Well-Discerned Discernment, On the Different Types of Hesychia and their Distinction (!) and so on. The words I encounter are also very distinctive and, I would say, powerful — Greek words which, of course, are no longer part of our everyday vocabulary: θεήλατος (divinely-driven), καλλίπενθος (beautifully mournful), ταπεινόνους (humble-minded), φερέπονος (pain-bearer), αμετεώριστος (unwavering), σύννοια (unity of mind), απαράκλητος (inconsolable), and others.

Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva on Saint John Climacus

“In one of my visits to Greece,” recounts Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, “when I went to confess to Elder Porphyrios, he was holding the book of Saint John of the Ladder — at that time the edition of the book had been published by the Sacred Monastery of Parakletos, which included both the text and commentary — and he said to me:

"My child, this cannot be… I have seen which angel had taken his hand and was writing."

"What was he writing, Elder?"

And the Elder was trying to find a passage that had especially impressed him, but at that moment something interrupted us, and unfortunately we did not note that point and that detail escaped us. Later we realized that this passage from the Ladder had impressed him because he had seen that an Angel of the Lord was guiding the hand of Saint John.

Prologue in Sermons: March 24

Against Dancing Among the Common People

March 24

(A Homily of Saint John Chrysostom on Games and Dancing)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Among you, Orthodox Christians, there exists a very bad custom, especially on Sundays and feast days, of gathering in your village streets and beginning dances there. This custom both angers God and brings about destructive consequences.

In order to abandon it, listen to what Saint Chrysostom says about it.

“Dancing,” says the universal teacher, “is not a human but a demonic activity. Demons teach it to us so that they may not be the only ones tormented in hell. And of all amusements it is the worst, for it draws a person away from God and leads him down to the depths of hell. And a woman who dances is called the bride of Satan, the adulteress of the devil, and the consort of demons; and she who dances will not only herself be brought down to the depths of hell, but also all who danced with her. She does not preserve her honor, and through her the devil tempts many, both in sleep and in wakefulness. All who love dancing will be condemned to the unquenchable fire. And it is vile and shameful for a man to live with such a woman.

Listen to what happened: people sat down to eat and drink, became full and drunk, and began to dance — and then to commit sin. After that they turned to idols and began to offer sacrifices to them. Then the earth opened and swallowed twenty-three thousand of them. Thus the Lord showed an image of punishment to all who sin and do not do the will of God. Therefore, brothers and sisters, beware and do not love unlawful, demonic amusements. Especially avoid dancing, lest you be condemned to eternal torment.”*

Remembering Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos spoke exclusively to orthodoxtimes.gr about the personal relationship he had developed with the late Patriarch of Georgia, Ilia. Among other things, he refers to the humility of the late Hierarch and to his decisive role in the ecclesiastical and social life of the country. Read what the Metropolitan said to orthodoxtimes.gr below, and after read a text by Metropolitan Kallinikos of Kastoria that supplements the text:

Remembering Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

From my repeated visits to Georgia for the presentation of my books that were translated into Georgian, and from the lectures I gave in Tbilisi with the blessing of the late Patriarch Ilia, I observed the devotion of the Georgians to the Orthodox Church, as well as their deep respect for their Patriarch. I always visited him at the Patriarchate, and despite the health problems he had in recent years, I noticed that he enjoyed universal recognition from the ecclesiastical and political spheres as well as from the people.

The late Patriarch Ilia had particular gifts, such as simplicity, humility, and discernment. He was an iconographer, knowledgeable in Georgian music, and a composer of ecclesiastical hymns. He took care for the construction of a magnificent Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in the center of Tbilisi, on different levels, with halls and auxiliary spaces, with a height of 71 meters.

Homily for the Sunday of Saint John Climacus (Fr. Daniel Sysoev)

Homily for the Sunday of Saint John Climacus 

By Fr. Daniel Sysoev

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

I congratulate you all on the day of commemoration of our father, the Venerable and God-bearing John Climacus, who the Church has established to be celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent! The Venerable John, in his ABCs of spiritual life, a global textbook on the ascent to Heaven, describes the framework and detailed methods by which this can be achieved. This work — the Ladder — is very important for us now, because people have forgotten what they ought to strive for.

The Apostle Paul says: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). Such an understanding always existed in the ancient Church, and it is preserved among pious Christians. But for many Christians who do not keep watch over themselves, it has been replaced by another feeling — that although they know this, earthly matters seem more important. All these things obscure for us the simple truth that our homeland is in Heaven. There we must ascend; and whoever does not ascend will perish together with this world.

Holy Hieromartyr Nikon and Those With Him in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

 

Saint Nikon lived during the time of the governor Quintilian and was from the land of the Neapolitans. He was a handsome young man and radiant in appearance, and in wars his bravery struck fear into his opponents. His father was an idolater, while his mother was a Christian. In a great war, and indeed in a fierce battle, the blessed one remembered the exhortations of his mother, and after sighing deeply and saying, “Lord Jesus Christ, help me,” he made the sign of the Cross as though he were being surrounded by a wall, and advanced mightily into the midst of the enemy. Some he struck with the sword, others with the spear, and he did not cease until he had utterly defeated them all and put them to flight. All were astonished at his conduct, because the war turned favorably for them; thus, together with the others, he returned to his home. He revealed to his mother his intention for the future, and he sailed to the regions of Constantinople.

When he arrived at an island called Chios, he went up its mountain and remained there for seven days, devoted to fasting, vigils, and prayers. Then a divine angel informed him to go down to the shore with a staff, which the one who appeared to him had given him. Reaching the shore, he found a ship, boarded it, and after two days, when he disembarked, he arrived at Mount Ganos. By divine providence, a bishop appeared to him in the guise of a monk, and taking him by the hand, led him to a cave where he himself dwelt. There he catechized him and baptized him in the name of the Holy Trinity, also imparting to him the Holy Mysteries. After three years he ordained him a presbyter, and then a bishop.